Experimental autoimmune uveitis (EAU) in rats is being used as a possible model for certain human ocular diseases. Two aspects of EAU induction have been studied: (1) The role of lymphocytes as the major component of the pathogenic mechanism was confirmed in experiments in which transfer of EAU was achieved: EAU was transferred to normal, naive rats by injection of lymphocytes from donors with active disease. (2) The effect of the genetic makeup on susceptibility to EAU induction was examined. Various inbred rat strains were compared and showed great variations in their development of EAU.